Virgil Goode Virgil Goode: What's the scoop?

[cavalier973]

So, unless by some astonishing miracle of God Ron Paul wins the GOP nomination (it hasn't happened yet!!!), then I'm leaning toward voting for this Goode character. I like some of what G. Johnson says, but it seems to me that he's more willing than not to be tempted into supporting the Warfare State. I could be wrong.
I don't like Goode's stance on immigration (he wants a moratorium on all immigration until Federal monies stop going to illegal immigrants; he thinks that immigrants are "stealing jobs"), and I really don't like his stance on the War on Drugs (he's for it, hard; to me, it's not about ending drug use and all about implementing the legal and logistical framework to impose martial law). I also am very much opposed to the CP's stance on trade (I'm for Free Trade, they're against it, claiming that free trade "leads to socialism", an Orwellian position if there ever was one).

Nevertheless, I'm willing to overlook the disagreements I have with the CP because there is still a lot of its platform that I like. Consider, for example the CP's stance on the military draft:

Conscription

US Constitution, 5th Amendment:
"No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

Conscription deprives a person of liberty without due process of law. This is clearly prohibited by the 5th amendment. Conscription is an involuntary taking of a person's labor-which is a form of property-without just compensation as provided by the eminent domain provisions of the 5th amendment.

Compulsory government service is incompatible with individual liberty.

We oppose imposition of the draft, the registration law, compulsory military training or any other form of compulsory government service.

We support a well-trained and highly organized volunteer state home militia, and voluntary Reserve Officer Training Corps (R.O.T.C.) military training in our schools, colleges, and universities

A party that opposes the military draft will certainly oppose a "civil service corps", or whatever the heck Obama was talking about implementing.

And--Holy Moley!--their stance on jury nullification:

All who are accused of crimes, petty to capital, shall have a trial by jury upon request, and the jury shall be fully informed of its right to nullify the law.

Plus, the platform calls for the elimination of the Federal Reserve...and fractional reserve banking!!

I saw a news article that described Jim Clymer's speech to the one of the Ron Paul Festivals. Anyone have any comment on what he said?

To close, I wonder if, were Virgil Goode to hint strongly that Ron Paul would have a place in his administration, would that sway your vote?

 

[LibertyEagle]

Well, the kind of trade we have now certainly is helping the globalists/socialists. Dr. Paul is also against NAFTA, CAFTA, the WTO, etc.

 

[RonRules]

In 2006, Minnesota's 5th congressional district elected Keith Ellison as the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Some criticized Ellison's intended use of the Qur'an once owned by Thomas Jefferson at a private swearing-in ceremony; among them, Goode was vocal in his opposition to Ellison's plan. One of Goode's constituents posted a letter online from the congressman regarding Ellison. The letter reads in part:

When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.

 

[RonRules]

Just yesterday Ron Paul emphasized that we have freedom of religion, all 50 or so religions, including no religion.

Virgil Goode is certainly not aligned with Ron on that topic.

 

[specsaregood]

There was an interview not too long ago, and he claimed to have come our direction in a BIG way on all the big issues. It is either the CP's turn to have a Bob Barr or he is now seen the light and decent liberty candidate.

 

[cavalier973]

He claims that he is willing to consider a flat tax or "the Fair Tax", but the party platform rejects both proposals in favor of tariffs and excise taxes. If the tariffs aren't "protective tariffs", I can live with that. Besides, if the gov't is relying on taxes on imports for its revenue, there's less incentive to instill import quotas and such.

Yeah, he said some embarrassing things about Ellison. Ellison then sought him out on the floor of Congress, and they had a "cordial discussion" (of which I do not know the result). He also is bad, bad, bad, on the drug war. This is counterbalanced, in my view, by his (presumable) opposition to the "War on Terror" (he supports ending the occupation of Afghanistan, and the party platform is opposed to the "War on Terror").

 

[Feeding the Abscess]

There was an interview not too long ago, and he claimed to have come our direction in a BIG way on all the big issues. It is either the CP's turn to have a Bob Barr or he is now seen the light and decent liberty candidate.

Considering Goode is still drug warrioring, I'm going with Bob Barr 2.0.

 

[Brett85]

Just yesterday Ron Paul emphasized that we have freedom of religion, all 50 or so religions, including no religion.

Virgil Goode is certainly not aligned with Ron on that topic.

Freedom of religion is not the same as freedom from religion; the phony "separation of church and state" that the ACLU supports doesn't exist.

 

[RonRules]

Freedom of religion is not the same as freedom from religion; the phony "separation of church and state" that the ACLU supports doesn't exist.

Read your Constitution. One of purposes was to prevent tyranny of the collusion between church and state.

It's also because you don't want morons running the county that believe in imaginary friends in the sky.

 

[specsaregood]

It's also because you don't want morons running the county that believe in imaginary friends in the sky.

I'd much prefer that than douchebag atheists that think they are the pinnacle of life.

 

[erowe1]

I like the Constitution Party. But I prefer Johnson over Goode. Neither one is perfect. But Johnson's record backs up his words, and Goode's doesn't.

 

[RonRules]

I'd much prefer that than douchebag atheists that think they are the pinnacle of life.

Maybe we are!

 

[Nathan Hale]

Goode reeks of Barr 2.0 - but that doesn't even matter. The long and shot of it is that Goode doesn't have decent ballot access so there's no point in voting for him.

 

[cavalier973]

The only way I'd vote for Johnson would be if he promised to put Ron Paul into his cabinet. He might not be able to say so openly, but he could do the whole "the person I'm looking for for the position of Sec of X will have these qualities" hint, hint, wink wink.

 

[erowe1]

The only way I'd vote for Johnson would be if he promised to put Ron Paul into his cabinet. He might not be able to say so openly, but he could do the whole "the person I'm looking for for the position of Sec of X will have these qualities" hint, hint, wink wink.

That seems like a strange condition to apply. Johnson's not going to win, so cabinet talk would just be like fantasy football.

 

[cavalier973]

Yeah, but having Ron Paul in the admin would help me overlook some of the stuff I dislike about Gary Johnson. I swear, though, that, while reading through the Constitution Party's platform, that while I really liked some of the stuff I was reading, on several of them, I was like "screw this! I'm voting LP!"

The advantage of voting Johnson, as I see it, is that he seems to have better name recognition among liberty advocates, and so the more people who vote for him, the better chance there is of getting him over 10% of the vote, which would really resonate with people who think that taking over the GOP is the only real path to getting us back to Constitutionally limited government.

 

[erowe1]

Yeah, but having Ron Paul in the admin would help me overlook some of the stuff I dislike about Gary Johnson.

But there won't be an admin. There will only be a campaign. In that campaign he can say whatever he wants about his hypothetical future administration. He could say he'd ask Bono from U2 to be in his admin. It won't matter because he'll never have to make good on the promise.

 

[GeorgiaAvenger]

Well, the kind of trade we have now certainly is helping the globalists/socialists. Dr. Paul is also against NAFTA, CAFTA, the WTO, etc.

As far as those treaties which I am against because there are many bad parts, but the effect is a lowering in tariffs. Protectionists would agree with me in removing the fascist/globalist provisions, but they are also against the lowering of the tariffs.

 

[GeorgiaAvenger]

My assessment of Goode is that he is a traditional conservative/nationalist type, which I like to some degree. Not a perfect record, but he has evolved too I think specifically on foreign policy.

 

[Brett85]

I'm fortunate in that I have the opportunity to vote for Chuck Baldwin, as the Kansas Reform Party decided to nominate him again this time around. I wasn't really enthused about voting for Virgil Goode.